Having a few "issues" with the brakes on our 67 Convertible....it was made the last week of production for 67, which means it has 68 brakes....I'm VERY new and very much a novice with any car...and my husband is travelling today..so I'm going to attempt to explain the problem and see what kind of feedback I can get (He will be so impressed if I can give him an answer!)

anyway, 68 brakes on a 67 car...changed out the brake pads and the calipers (had to have the calipers machined down to fit)...bled the brakes...we are still hearing air from the booster area, the front right brake is still catching when the brakes are applied. Plus...after driving it for an hour on Saturday the brake fluid reservoir for the back brakes was almost empty, but we could find no evidence of leaks...and we were pretty much brakeless at this point.

We are at a loss at this point as to what the problem is....I hope I've not been too confusing...but if anyone has any advice it sure would be appreciated.

 

First, what type of brakes? Why did you need to machine down the caliper? Have you done a Granada swap and kept the stock 14" wheels?

The air hiss from the booster and the unexplained loss of fluid to the rear brakes leads me to believe you have a bad power brake booster.

Stop taking 1 hour drives until you get the problem fixed!! At the most you should be taking short test drives!

HTH

 

Ok first off, if youre hearing a hissing sound from the booster area, that means the booster has a vacuum leak and needs to be replaced or remanufactured (if you can find someone to do this).
Second, your car is probably equipped with rear drum brakes. If the reservior is low for the rear, I GUARANTEE that the wheel cylinders are leaking (if theres no evidence of obvious external leaks). They also need to be replaced or rebuilt, its usually cheaper just to replace them.
Third, if you had to have the caliper machined to fit its probably the wrong caliper (or the wrong wheels for the car), it wouldnt happen to be the right front by any chance would it? That could cause the grabbing, otherwise the brake pad itself is contamined and needs to be replaced.
So basically, have the leaks fixed bleed the system properly starting at the right rear then the left rear then the right front then the left front.
-P.

 

Thanks y'all...husband said he thought it was the booster...but I'm trying to "help" (which may or may not be a good thing)...I'll pass on the info....

highhilleer...no kidding about that drive...it started off oK...but about halfway through..no brakes...we learned our lesson for sure!

 

Replace the booster, I replaced mine on my 67 and it made a world of difference. As far as machining the calipers??? Maybe rotors machined??? Anyways, get new rear brake cylinders, new booster, new fluid, bleed and your good to go.

 

I can "sort of" answer the caliper issue...the original calipers had been machined by the previous ownerin order for the steel wheels to fit...of course we didn't know that at the time...rather than spend the money to replace the wheels, we had the calipers machined...

I really appreciate the help and the fantastic advice!

 

Hey guys....thanks for helping my damsel ...while I was out. My take was the booster as well. the test occured over a period of 3 days with short drives being successful....then a longer one .....then a longer test run. Everything was working no issues with the exception of the rf grabbing if the application was hard but normal or soft braking you'd never notice it. So off to Daytona .....THEN the system let go ....and when I checked the rear reservoir was low. So at that point I knew we had a cylinder leak or two.
So I'm just going to do the WHOLE system and be done with it . I never heard the air whoosh before while bleeding or testing the brakes couldn't hear it in the car. But Saturday I was standing at the door and reaching inside to press the brakes......THEN heard the whoosh from the booster...(I was hoping for bad hoses I guess)
Calipers? yep they were machined down to accomadate the Style Steel Wheels 14" so ....they are for sale. I 'll deal with the machine work but long term I don't want it on their if it isn't right.

thanks guys!!!